The 7 Forgotten Games of PAX 07

What Is It? Insecticide is the quirky new game from Crackpot Entertainment and Gamecock Media Group, it's a PC and Nintendo DS game that combines a 3D platformer with an old school point and click PC adventure game. You play young police detective named Chrys who is working on cracking her partner's long-unsolved case. The game's sense of humor comes from its outlandish setting, a futuristic world where bugs now control everything. On top of the bugs-as-humans approach to the game, Insecticide also borrows a lot from the classic film noir movies of the 1950s. Put all this together and you have a Nintendo DS game that has the potential to put classic adventure games back on the radar. Insecticide takes a lot of its influence from the classic LucasArts games of the 1980s and 90s. I'm talking about Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango, genuine classics of the genre. And that makes sense, because developers Crackpot Entertainment is actually made up of veterans from that era, people that not only understand how to make a story work, but also have a sharp sense of humor. Although this Nintendo DS version is incredibly rough around the edges, there is definitely a lot of potential for a game like this. The Nintendo DS isn't known for its 3D platformers, and if Crackpot is actually able to make us laugh as hard as we did while playing Full Throttle then this could be one of the best handheld games of all time.

Why Was It Forgotten? Unfortunately Gamecock decided to hide Insecticide in a tiny little kiosk that almost nobody noticed. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that somebody from Auran told me the game was there I might have gone away from PAX convinced that Fury was the only game Gamecock was showing off. When you look at the difference in support between Fury and Insecticide it's painfully clear which one Gamecock put their money behind ... and it wasn't Insecticide. Fury had a dozen computers up and running to support Fury, not to mention huge posters and people handing out demos and trying to get you to come in and try out the game. Insecticide, on the other hand, was left with only a couple of Nintendo DS units and almost no fanfare. It's actually more sad than anything, since it's Insecticide that I'm more excited about out of those two games.

What Could Go Wrong? As of right now the game is rough, but part of me fears that the game won't look or play much better than it does right now. The humor also troubles me, while there are a lot of talented (and funny) guys working on the game; comedy is hard to pull off in a video game ... especially when it's a Nintendo DS game. Will the portable nature of the system actually work against the humor in Insecticide? We hope not, but we can't help but fear for the worst when playing the demo.

What Is It? Logan's Shadow is the sequel to one of the best games of 2006, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. Not much is known about the overall story in Logan's Shadow, but if it's anything like the first few minutes then we're in for one exciting time. The game starts out on a recently bombed boat; you play Gabe Logan on a mission to take out the terrorists still on the boat and figure out just what's going on. But what is going on? I guess we'll find out this fall when the game finally ships. Sony promises that this new adventure will be just as good (if not better) than Dark Mirror and full of twists and turns. Better yet, we'll have plenty more multiplayer options, including more competitive and co-op play. The graphics and presentation are as good as ever, with plenty of small details that will make you forget that this series started its life as a poor man's Metal Gear Solid. The problem is that all of this is shrouded in secrecy, what is the overall story line? Who are the new bosses? Will Gabe make it to the end of another exciting mission? Well, of course he will, but how he gets there is where the fun is. Logan's Shadows has some big shoes to fill after last year's stunning entry, but from what we've seen so far this brand new Syphon Filter looks like it could be one of the best reasons to own a PSP this year.

Does It Still Hold Up? It's been a few months since the game's original debut and Sony has yet to show us anything new or exciting. It's not their fault; they've shown off as much of the game as they can without spoiling the major plot twists and cool features that will adorn this PSP game. But even though Sony has an excuse not to show off more of this game, it definitely makes it hard for the mainstream media to actually cover it. It also didn't help that Sony kept this game tucked away behind some of their other releases, such as PaRappa the Rapper, a game that has been out for a couple months now. The good news is that Sony was handing out demo discs of this game, not that this move helped them snag any coveted media attention.

Is It Worth The Money? While everybody hopes that this second PSP Syphon Filter will surpass the original, there is an outside chance all of the good ideas were used up in the first game. Don't think this is a possibility? Let's not forget that as the PS1 Syphon Filter games went on they became increasingly more ridiculous and hard to swallow. And even after the upswing in sales, there's still a chance that nobody is going to go out and buy what is sure to be an amazing sequel for the PSP.

What Is It? The Eye of Judgment is the coolest card game ever made for a video game ... at least, that's what it looks like. Imagine a standard game of Magic: The Gathering, a game where you set down cards and have to use your imagination to picture enemies, magic attacks and a fantastical world that everything takes place in. Now picture playing that game and not having to use your imagination at all. In The Eye of Judgment you got a real pack of cards (the kind you can take away from the video game console and trade with friends), but when you play you put the cards on the table in front of the very special PlayStation 3 EyeToy. Instead of just showing the table and the card on screen, the EyeToy actually reads the card and turns it into a 3D character that fights and casts magic. On paper that sounds interesting, but in practice this high-tech card game is cool enough to convince even non-Magic: The Gathering players that they need to invest in some of these cards. While this may not be the kind of game that gets everybody excited about the PlayStation 3, these card game-loving PAX attendees seemed like the perfect fit for Sony's bizarre new Magic rip-off. With its amazing graphics and control (played entirely with real world cards) The Eye of Judgment could create a brand new genre in the gaming industry.

Does It Still Hold Up? The Eye of Judgment populated one very small section in the Sony booth. Not only was it out of the way, but it was on an uninviting stage. Every time I walked past Sony's booth I noticed that nobody was bothering to play this exciting new card game, instead they were focused on Lair, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and the PlayStation 3's other big titles. Even the media missed this game, which was unfortunate given the large amount of table top gamers that attend PAX each year. Hopefully the lack of interest from the gamers and the gaming press is not a sign of things to come for The Eye of Judgment.

Is It Worth The Money? The biggest problem with a game like this is the expense, not only do you have to buck up for the overpriced PlayStation 3, but you also have to buy the game, brand new EyeToy, and continue picking up card packs. What's more, if the game doesn't sell well there may not be anybody to play this against. It may just be that this is a good idea that is a little too ahead of its time. It's going to be a hard task convincing the average gamer that they need to buy real cards instead of just getting a game that has a few hundred cards already on the disc.

What Is It? Indianapolis 500 Legends is a realistic racing game for the Nintendo Wii. Scratch that, it's the ONLY realistic racing game for the Wii. In a world of over-the-top racing games (Excite Truck) and Mario Kart clones (Mario Kart Wii), Indianapolis 500 Legends stands out because it has the gall to try and recreate one of the most beloved sports of the last 100 years. Instead of trying to recreate the current sport, Indianapolis 500 Legends goes back in time to when racing was a lot more innocent (and dangerous). You take control of real people and race with their actual cars between the years of 1961 and 1971, weaving in and out of traffic trying to make it first however you can. The game is set up with a number of different missions, many of which happened in real life. For example, in one mode you will start a race only to find that you're in one of the most spectacular crashes of all time and all of the cars around you are modeled to crash and burn exactly how it happened 40 years ago. Along with the realistic tracks, racers and cars, fans of the sport will be happy to hear that one of the biggest announcers of that era is back to do sound recording for this upcoming Wii game. While it has an admittedly narrow focus, Indianapolis 500 Legends may prove to be a blast of fresh air when it hits the Nintendo Wii this holiday season.

Does It Still Hold Up? It's hard to complete with Nintendo, and that's exactly what Destineer did at this year's PAX. The Indianapolis 500 Legends display was the closest thing to the Nintendo booth, a hard sell when you're competing with the likes of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Another problem was the way the Wii control was calibrated, since you were standing only a couple feet away from the screen the controls didn't work as well as they should have. Obviously this is the kind of thing that is resolved by simply stepping back, but since the Wii remote was tethered to the Indianapolis 500 Legends kiosk (for obvious reasons) it made it difficult to get an accurate idea of how the game controlled. I suspect that once the media outlets start to get preview builds of Indianapolis 500 Legends they'll run stories on the game, but at this year's PAX nobody seemed to care about this promising racing simulator.

Is It Worth The Money? Despite the fact that Destineer wanted an online mode for Indianapolis 500 Legends, Nintendo opted against that saying that the online infrastructure was only meant for first-party games (for the time being). While the game appears to have a robust single-player campaign, one has to wonder if fans of multiplayer racing games will get their money's worth. It's also worth noting that you're only really playing one track, the (surprise, surprise) Indianapolis 500. But don't worry, the track changed over the years, so each year will reflect the realistic changes that were made. We'll have to wait and see if this is enough to keep hardcore racing fans interested for long.